Recordpub.com - Ford era set to begin tonight for KSU men's basketball team

By David Carducci

Record-Courier staff writer

History will be on Kent State's side tonight when the Golden Flashes open the 2008-09 men's basketball season by hosting North Carolina Central at the M.A.C. Center.

Traditionally, first-year head coaches win in their debut on the Golden Flashes' bench.

Jim Christian won in a rout in his first game in 2002, beating Urbana 93-39. Stan Heath's only season in Kent opened with a 90-68 win over Mercyhurst in 2001. Gary Waters began his run at KSU with an 84-55 thumping of Ferris State in 1996. Dave Grube's Flashes beat Idaho State 83-71 in 1992. The first of Jim McDonald's 10 seasons at KSU tipped off with an 89-76 win over St. Joseph's of Indiana in 1982.

A win tonight would make Geno Ford the sixth straight KSU coach to win his first game since Ed Douma lost in his debut all the way back in 1978.

Ford also has an opportunity to make an early mark in the Kent State record books. His Flashes carry over a 16-game home winning streak into the new year. A win would match the school record for consecutive home wins at 17, matching a streak that stretched over three seasons from Feb. 28, 2001 to Jan. 4, 2003. Arch-rival Akron handed Kent State its last home loss, 66-64 in overtime on March 4, 2007.

North Carolina Central does not appear to have the necessary firepower to end the Flashes' streak. The Eagles expect to have only eight players in uniform tonight when they play game two of their second season as a Division I program. The shorthanded club from Durham, N.C. was blown out 94-48 in its opener at Wake Forest on Friday night.

Coach Henry Dickerson's team has two players sidelined by season-ending knee injuries. Another two players are waiting to become eligible on Dec. 12. To make matter worse, his best player, two-year starter Bryan Ayala (13.0 points, 4.0 assists last season), may miss his second straight game to suspension.

"N.C. Central is still scary because we don't know a whole lot about them," said Ford. "We weren't able to get any film on them other than from last year, and they have a lot of new faces, kind of like us.

"The big key for us will be to do what we can do well and force them to react to how we want to play, rather than adjusting to what they are doing."

With four first-year starters getting a baptism under fire, including one true freshman and two transfers, and only three players available off the bench, N.C. Central is destined to experience some early-season growing pains.

"(Freshman point guard) Vincent Davis, it's his first year playing. Our big kid in the middle (Stevy Worah-Ozimo), it's his first year playing, too," Dickerson said Friday night after the loss at Wake Forest. "We (have) a lot of inexperienced players. You can tell them all you want to tell them. Once you step on the floor, it's totally different."

The one thing working in the evening's favor may be the teams' choices of attire. N.C. Central ordered new road uniforms from Russell Athletic, but they were accidentally shipped to Europe. That gives the Eagles only their home whites to wear on their first road trip. It also means KSU will most likely wear its black "alternate" uniforms for the first time at home. The Flashes donned basic black in only two games last season, losing at Detroit to open the year and then again at Ohio University in a pair of sloppy efforts.

Kent State expects to have at least two players who missed last week's exhibition win over Muskingum back dressed in black tonight. Junior Chris Singletary will be in the starting lineup, while junior-college transfer Frank Henry-Ala will be available off the bench at either forward spot.

Singletary will continue to play this season, even as he waits for his off-season arrest on alleged noise-violation and resisting-arrest charges to work its way through the court system.

Henry-Ala was charged on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence in August, leading to his suspension last week.

As of Sunday night, the Flashes still did not know if junior-college transfers Anthony Simpson and Tyree Evans would receive certification from the NCAA in time to play in tonight's game.

The Flashes return eight lettermen from last year's Mid-American championship team, including reigning MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher (13.9 points, 4.1 assists last season).